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Sunday, October 21, 2007

How I Met Serach Part IX: Dr. Seuss & Sushi

This is Part IX of a series about how I proposed to Serach. Part I is here, Part II is here, Part III is here, and Part IV is here, Part V is here, Part VI is here, Part VII is here, Part VIII is here. Or, you could simply use the dropdown menu on the left side of the blog titled "How I Met Serach". I'm currently giving the background of the story...

Ez: Wow. I didn't realize that it's been 7-1/2 months since I left off, but the truth is, I didn't know where to take it from there. I'd finished recapping the first date, and I don't think that the mundane portions of our dating are all that interesting to read about, though I guess one never knows. In addition, I'm obviously not going to put a lot of portions up on this blog; those are for us.* Soooo... the next few parts are going to be a little more choosy, picking out various parts and stories that I think are worth telling over. Enjoy!

The day after our first date was Thanksgiving Day 2003. I was headed to my friend and chavrusa Jon's house for my first ever Thanksgiving "feast"; and quite a feast it was. Meanwhile, Serach was headed to Los Angeles to celebrate the birth of her newest nephew. Sometime over the next couple of days, Jon - whom you may recall wemet through - called up his good friend Serach and said,

"You know... I think maybe you should date Ezzie."

Serach responded, "Umm, I think we already are."

That got a nice big WHAT!?!??!, but that led to an amusing conversation over the phone between Serach and myself, as we contemplated our next steps. Serach mentioned that it seemed that with a few people she'd dated, she'd never really been 'asked' on a date; it seemed to just 'happen'. Now, here we were, and the same thing had happened. Of course, sap that I am was, I immediately asked,

"Fine. Serach, will you go out on a date with me?"

Awwww. So romantic!

We had a number of deep and fascinating conversations about a myriad of subjects over the next week or so, as it would be a while until we'd have a chance to actually have that date. Without a car on my part, and a license on her part, we could only try and meet up in Manhattan when we both had enough time to do so. We'd just have to stick to the phones for a while.

In one of those conversations, I expressed - or rather, had trouble expressing a lot of what I may have wanted to... but not because I didn't know how, but because I wouldn't let myself. I was afraid: Afraid to sound dumb, afraid to embarrass myself... just afraid in general. It was at this point that Serach picked up on my thoughts and immediately said a line that I've liked forever since, and which may seem awfully familiar:

Be yourself; because the people who care don't matter, and the people who matter don't care.

While for some this may come easy, this was something I'd long struggled with, though 7 years in a dorm, particularly my experiences in my two years in Israel, had gotten me much better at this. Now, I doubt that most of my friends who've known me only since after high school would believe I was ever like that. Those are the same people who don't believe I was ever shy, either. :) But the applicability of the line is endless. Some people have trouble being themselves in day-to-day life; some people when confronted with certain situations; some people have trouble when they go against the grain; and others seem to rebel without managing to be themselves. I think most people would be happier if they allowed themselves to be themselves.

As you can probably see, this was obviously a very important line for me. Less important but slightly more troubling was another comment she made:

Ezzie: I'm writing the story as I remember it, and unfortunately that sometimes results in skipping some details. When I remember them, I'll try to fill them in; possibly in the comments, possibly in the posts if it won't make it too disjointed. If anything is unclear or you have any questions, feel free to ask! Serach won't admit it, but she's been reading the story [and lately, other posts, too!] - maybe she'll fill in some of the details and her perspective at some point. I'm still hoping. :)

* ...and to varying degrees: Our parents; our siblings; certain close friends; my roommates - who had the opportunity to hear waaay too many [err, loud] arguments between various people that were on speaker and I found out later could be heard not just in my own room, but in the living room/kitchen and other rooms as well; and various other random people from relatives to people we'll likely never see again, but will always have intense gratitude for.

SerandEz leans toward current issues - from politics to the Jewish community - with sports, Israel, and even Judaism thrown in. Add some comedy, fun, my own thoughts, and a bunch of my friends, and voila! SerandEz! I hope people are getting something out of it, even if it's just an interesting idea or a quick smile. Enjoy! ~ Ezzie Goldish